Kitty Hawk 1/32 Kingfisher

By John Bardwell

This build was something of a chore at times but the final result is not bad in my opinion. Paints used were Xtracolor, White Ensign and Model Master. National insignia and the cowling number are from my decal stash (I feel that the blue in the kit decals is too "bright"). I used the Eduard PE interior set for the cockpit and radioman's area. If you plan to do that let me recommend that you use only the pilot's cockpit parts and gun parts. Leave off the radioman's stuff, especially the PE decking, as it creates problems in fitting the gun ring, etc. High cuss-factor. I added the lifting cable on the cockpit bulkhead from twisted wire, the additional wing floats struts from Evergreen strips, and the float to fuselage brace wires from steel wire. I did very little weathering as the aircraft in my reference photo seemed to show very little. I hope you like the results of my efforts.

PS: A copy of Dana Bell's book on the Kingfisher is just about a MUST for this build.